China’s anxious jobseekers face reality as career aspirations vanish, youth unemployment pressure remains
- Young jobseekers are grappling with disillusionment within the grim employment market, while Beijing is eager to maintain social stability and boost consumption
- Youth-unemployment rate for the 16-24 age group rose to 15.3 per cent in February, while a record 11.79 million university students are set to graduate this year
Despite Beijing’s repeated push, young jobseekers in China are being forced to shed career aspirations and yield to lower-paid positions amid shrinking opportunities, mirroring the overall mounting employment woes.
Stella Zhang, who graduated from one of China’s most prestigious universities in Beijing last year, said her long-held belief that “good education leads to a bright future” had been shattered by the reality of the job market.
“Now I’ve shed all idealistic expectations for work, such as being a platform for self-fulfilment. A job is simply a way for me to lead a stable life,” said the 24-year-old, who was unemployed for over six months after graduating.
While the government has been rolling out rounds of supportive measures to bolster the employment that is deemed key to maintaining social stability and boosting consumption confidence, China is still faced with growing unemployment pressure amid a set of economic headwinds.
